My attempt at raising happy, healthy, clever children

Wednesday, 30 April 2014

So, this morning I have spoken with my son and we have worked out where he is currently at with his times tables.

He is confident with 2, 5 and 10 times tables. He can do 3s, but he has to work them out rather than knowing them by heart, so we need a little more work here. He says he can do some of his 6 times table, but not the 4s (which he did before the 6s).

He does not understand how times tables work in the real world yet. I gave him 5 questions designed to see whether he could work out which were times tables and which were not, but he couldn't work it out (see here for more details of the test I gave him)

He does understand that, for example, 6 x 4 is the same as 4 x 6, but he does not apply this unless I really press him. I asked him what 3 x 7 was and he said he didn't know because he hadn't done his 7 times table yet. When I asked if there was another way to work it out he didn't know, but when I asked if 7 x 3 would be the same he said "oh yeah, 21"

So, my next step with my son is to come up with a plan to change where is now into being totally confident with times tables.

Tuesday, 29 April 2014

My children, aged 6 and 8 years old, are at different stages in learning their times tables at school.

I have decided to try to assist both of them with learning their times tables as far as the 12 times table.

My plan is to do this in a fairly systematic way, and for me to tell you about each stage (including what works and what doesn't!) so that you can follow their progress and hopefully get some ideas to help with your children.

The first step must be to work out their current level of understanding.
I want to know the following things

Which times tables can they already remember of by heart

Which times tables can they work out

Do they understand how times tables actually work

Do they understand that, for example 4 x 6 is the same as 6 x 4 and can they apply this to their times tables.

Once I understand these things, I am hopeful that I can come up with a plan that will lead to the both being able to learn all times tables up to 12 x 12 = 144, whilst really understanding how times tables work and how to work out any that they may forget.

Thursday, 18 April 2013

I am taking a year to change everything in my life. My children are of course a huge part of my life, and I can't think of transforming my life without doing my best to improve my children's lives too.

As with all parents, I want my children to have the best start in life - to be happy, healthy, intelligent and have fun. My children are 6 and 8 years old and enjoy their lives, but as with most things, I could be doing better. This is my statement to the world that I am going to try harder, and am going to do better to give them the lives they deserve.